1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tool caddies, and particularly to a vehicle tool tray which may be wheeled to a position under the open hood of a vehicle for the convenience of a mechanic working on the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
The automobile mechanic is frequently required to open the hood of the vehicle and work on the engine. In the course of diagnosing engine problems or making repairs, he may have occasion to use a variety of tools and to remove small parts and fasteners. The task at hand may require that he set one or more tools aside in order to have one or both hands free for manipulation of various components under the hood. If the mechanic goes about his work in orderly fashion, he would normally have to make repeated trips back and forth to his tool box and the work bench, requiring repetitious walking and bending beneath the hood.
Frequently, the mechanic will resort to various improvisations and expedients to avoid such time consuming, tedious, and inconvenient tasks. Some mechanics will temporarily place their tools in pockets of their clothing, on top of the frame supporting the radiator, on the battery, on top of the air cleaner, or any other place under the hood within easy reach. Other mechanics will remove the air cleaner and place a towel over the throat of the carburetor to provide a platform on which they can place bolts, screws, and other small pieces.
The problem with such expedients is that invariably the tools have a tendency to become jostled and fall through the engine compartment onto the ground beneath the vehicle, or the mechanic will forget where he placed the tool. Small parts and fasteners have an annoying proclivity for falling on the engine into locations where they are difficult to see or locate. Further, some small parts need to be taken out in a particular order and replaced to their exact location, and they invariably become indistinguishably intermixed with such makeshift expedients. There is therefore a need for a vehicle tool tray providing the mechanic with a tool tray at hand under the hood on which he may place his tools. It is also desirable that such a tray have compartments for holding fasteners and small parts.
Various tool holders, caddies and tables have been proposed which alleviate these problems or which have certain features bearing some similarity to the claimed invention. U.S. Pat. No. 1,829,281, issued Oct. 27, 1931 to D. B. Henley, describes a stand for fruit packers having a rectangular base with four vertical telescoping legs supported on casters, a pivoting platform on which boxes are placed, and a tray for wrapping paper mounted above the platform. U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,649, issued Jul. 23, 1968 to N. Miotke, shows a reading stand and utility table having a T-shaped pedestal mounted on wheels, with a vertical swivel tube, the height being adjustable by operating a knurled screw head transverse to the vertical tube which causes a screw jack mechanism to raise and lower a sleeve supporting a platform which tilts. An auxiliary leg may be mounted under the free end of the platform for use as a table.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,209, issued Feb. 7, 1978 to G. W. Bolis, teaches a tubular stand to support a mechanic's body as he bends over the engine compartment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,044, issued Oct. 10, 1978 to R. E. Hines, shows a rectangular platform mounted on wheels with a vertical post extending up from the platform, a sleeve having a ledge on which a tray hangs, the sleeve being slidable on the post, and an S-shaped latched which is spring biased to-extend the lower part of the S through aligned holes in the post and sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,497, issued Dec. 18, 1984 to W. J. Bevans, teaches a mechanic's tool tray having a U-shaped base on caster wheels, a vertical supported post with braces welded to the corners of the U, a sleeve slidable on the post temporarily secured by inserting a rod through aligned holes in the post and sleeve, a U-shaped support member welded to the sleeve, and a heavy duty plastic tray attached to the support member by U.shaped straps, the tray having a magnetic strip and an electrical outlet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,649, issued Apr. 9, 1985 to R. J. Evans, describes a tool cart with a rectangular frame, a rectangular base, front and rear side walls supported by braces, the side walls having a plurality of columnar supports with slots, and a plurality of sheet metal trays with handles mounted between the side walls at different heights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,573, issued Dec. 29, 1987 to R. D. Liegel, shows a convertible tool tray which may be used by a mechanic while working under a vehicle supported on a hydraulic lift, or on a creeper under a vehicle resting on the ground, which has a T-shaped base made from square tubes mounted on wheels, a vertical post made from telescoping square tubes secured by a set screw inserted through the outer tube to clamp the side wall of the inner tube, and a tray mounted on the vertical post by a socket depending from the tray, the tray having wheels so it can be used separately on the ground when detached from the post. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,632, issued Nov. 24, 1992 to M. Kuen, discloses a tray for mounting on the opposite side of a post on a wheeled carriage from a rack used to lift an engine, the invention being a tray mount which keeps the tray level as the post bends when lifting an engine. The mount is U.shaped with a plate on the opposite side of the post from the U-shaped member, the tray being supported on a shaft having a 90.degree. bend mounted on the plate, and kept level by two adjustment screws above and below a pivot tube mounted to the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,681, issued Jan. 26, 1993 to J. W. Edwards, shows a tray for use by mechanics mounted on a post extending from a T-shaped base mounted on wheels, the height of the tray being adjustable by a crank operating a screw jack mechanism. The tray rotates horizontally and vertically and has a resilient magnetic pad for holding tools and parts. The device uses a square outer tube sleeve, a cylindrical inner tube sleeve having spherical depressions, and spheres disposed in the inside corners of the square outer sleeve extending into the spherical depressions on the inner sleeve.
None of the above inventions and patents taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.